Trump: Main thing is to stop war, whether ceasefire or direct transition to agreement
US President Donald Trump emphasizes the need to stop the war in Ukraine, whether it is a ceasefire or a direct transition to an agreement.
"And we're working on deals right now, transactions right now and in particular, the big one is to get the war stopped, whether it's ceasefire or direct to an agreement. I'd like to go directly to an agreement. But a ceasefire will always happen a little bit quicker and every day you're saving thousands or at least hundreds, but thousands, in some cases, lives. So, we want to see if we can get that done very quickly," he said at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House.
Trump praised the efforts of Saudi Arabia, which recently hosted a meeting between the United States and Russia, saying that "they want to see this ended and they're going all out to make sure that it is ended."
"I think Russia, likewise, I've spoken to President Putin and my people are dealing with him constantly and his people in particular and they want to do something," Trump said.
According to him, one of the first calls he made after his inauguration was to Putin.
In turn, Putin announced on Russian state television on Monday that bilateral talks with the United States are currently underway to increase confidence, which is a necessary stage before moving on to negotiations to end the war. Putin noted that at this stage, third parties are not being involved in these negotiations, but he does not seem to be against the possible participation of Europeans in the negotiations on Ukraine.
According to him, Chinese President Xi Jinping informed him during a conversation on Monday that the "BRICS peace group" would soon gather in New York.
Putin also said that Russia is also ready to offer the United States cooperation on critical materials, which it supposedly has more than in Ukraine.